Soaring and Stillness: Life with the Chickadees

sparkling grape juice to brighten the end of our week Hello, dear Friday, we welcome you back with open arms and a toast (non-alcholic of course!!)here in the nest. Here's the overview of what's happened this week... 1.On Tuesday we hosted a party for the professor's grad students. He suggested we should have one late last week and I agreed (I'm a crazy woman). Thus, invitations went out post haste, food was ordered, and decorations were purchased. I reserved our neighborhood pool house. We were expecting 12 and 20 arrived...it was a fantastic get together. 2.The road comission is doing major construction on the road where our library sits. I despise getting in there to grab books that I use for our homeschooling lit, but broke down and made the trek yesterday. The chicks are quite pleased. 3.I received a package in the mail from my dear friend, Sara , yesterday afternoon. I may sleep at some point in the near future. 'Tis what dreams are made of... 4.Evening a...

Ah, glorious Friday, how I've eagerly anticipated your arrival for the better part of the week...however, I'm currently at a loss as to why... Here's the take 5--five minutes, five moments or thoughts, five reasons to be thankful or look ahead... 1. On Saturday we visited the Titanic . You heard it here first, folks, the Titanic has docked in East Tennessee. The girls and I were first class passengers, the prof was the 3rd Officer. Dad ended up as John Jacob Astor, and Mom as Molly Brown. We were all famous, if only for a few hours. 2. I've been exhausted all week. I currently resemble the crypt keeper. I'd rather favour Julia Roberts. Maybe the use of Lancome would improve the state of my face, or, perhaps I should think about taking a nap... 3. I'm not the biggest fan of humidity. Neither are my hair and knees and hips and fingers and elbows and hands and wrists and... I think you get the picture. It's currently hovering around 92% here at the n...

My buddy, Sara , hosts a weekly link all about expressing one's creativity. In and of herself, Sara is probably one of the most creative people I know...everything she does results in excellence and beauty and I consider it an honor to be called "friend" by this amazing woman. When we went to visit her a few weeks ago, I had planned to do something that would bring color and beauty and life to her world. I desired to gift her with something that would last far beyond the days of our trip, and which would remind her that she's thought of and treasured every single day. I also needed something completely maintenance free, as I didn't want my sweet friend to have to call anyone in to assist her in caring for what we would do... My project began at Home Depot, where the chicks, the Professor and I carefully perused the rows of perennials . As a side note , flower selection is far greater in East Tennessee due to to yearly temperature ranges, but I was quite pleased w...

As a child, I looked forward to leftovers. Okay, at this point we'll all take a moment to acknowledge , well, my, um, weird unique traits. I liked knowing what was coming the next day. The routine, the plan, the constancy of smell and taste. I took comfort in the fact that Mom had prepared enough ahead of time to tide us over in case she didn't feel like cooking the next evening. In all honesty, we had leftovers because Mom over prepared. She made too much, anticipating my brother and me consuming more than humanly possible. Suffice it to say, we were well loved children, but that's another tale entirely. Bringing me back to...leftovers. Have you ever noticed that some things taste delicious the second time around? Chocolate cake for breakfast , meat pie, and mashed potatoes turned into pancakes all being prime examples. Other items though, change consistency and color and begin to look pale and mushy and, well, gross. It's the latter that I've been thinking about...

Five moments. Five minutes. What amazing or really not so much occurred in your week? I'll admit, it has been one of ups and downs here in the nest...we've had fantastic and flat out flip-flops, but each second has been memorable and completely full of life. 1. We were able to spend both Friday and Saturday with our Sara , who spreads more love into our lives than one could imagine...we painted, make a volcano cake, watched movies, laughed, cried, and sang from Annie . Don't let the girl ever tell ya she can't sing, because I'm just sayin ' even with restricted air and an infection and pure grief she has about the loveliest voice this side of the Mississippi. No bones about it. I know this one probably violates the whole concept of a "moment" but honestly I'm claiming it as a million moments wrapped into one so cherished my heart may almost burst trying to hold it all... 2. We made it home mostly unscathed after way too many hours in a car. The ...